Samsung: 5G Impact Report

Until recently, companies building the world’s future 5G networks, like Huawei and Ericsson, were commanding all the media attention in Belgium as the go-to 5G experts. All the while, unchallenged misinformation swirled about the safety of 5G frequencies, undermining public trust and perceptions and fueling uncertainty around the next generation of connectivity – not only delaying 5G adoption but putting Belgium industries at a serious and costly competitive disadvantage if this wasn’t addressed.

Mobile technology leader Samsung, which had been investing for years in 5G capabilities and the development of a 5G-enabled product portfolio, knew time was of the essence to develop a brand voice, galvanize Belgian policymakers and stakeholders, and steer the conversation in a positive new direction.

So, we worked with Samsung to marshal their leading 5G experts and technology research and released the first 5G Impact Report to share the company’s expert vision around the value of 5G to Belgian society and leaders across healthcare, transport, entertainment and industry. The trend report immediately became the door opener Samsung needed to jumpstart conversations and meetings with politicians, academia and media, and advance five news-making recommendations.

Through in-depth stakeholder mapping, Ketchum identified 147 key local opinion leaders and influencers who were shaping perceptions of 5G across the political, economic, scientific and media spectrum. Through direct mailings, publication of the report on www.samsung.com/be, and LinkedIn blogs, our outreach generated media interviews for Samsung’s CEO and 5G experts and in-depth one-on-one meetings with KOLs. These not only planted Samsung squarely in the spotlight as a leading 5G expert in Belgium, but resulted in high profile op-eds and Tier 1 business media coverage on VRT (Eén) and its website deredactie.be, as well as L’Echo, De Tijd and Le Soir a.o., advocating for the rapid deployment of 5G in the country.